We are asking the B.C. government to turn away from building new fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines, coal mines and fracking facilities, and instead rapidly shift to a low-carbon economy through all sectors.

In its fifth and most alarming report to date, the IPCC almost doubled its estimate of expected sea level rise to up to almost 1 metre by the end of the century, which would put Vancouver and other coastal communities at risk. Without immediate action to slash emissions world-wide, the report forecasts a rise in global temperatures up to 4.8 degrees by 2100, triggering further widespread melting of ice, extreme heat waves, difficulty growing food and the collapse of marine food webs, including commercial fisheries, due to changing ocean chemistry.

“The science is clear that we are on a path towards a climate that would painfully disrupt our civilization as we know it,” said Sierra Club BC’s science advisor, Dr. Colin Campbell. “With less than one degree of global warming, B.C. is already experiencing more storms, more droughts, more forest pests, more wild fires, melting glaciers, rising sea levels and loss of shellfish in acidifying ocean waters.”

Despite the provincial carbon tax and legislated emissions targets, B.C.s true carbon footprint is poised to increase massively through the projected LNG boom, proposed new coal mines and expansion of tar sands operations that would be enabled by the proposed Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipelines through the province. Just days ago, Premier Christy Clark announced nearly $116 million in royalty breaks for energy companies in support of natural gas production in the province’s northeast, an action in clear contradiction to IPCC warnings.

“True climate leadership means leaving carbon in the ground,” said Sierra Club BC’s forests and climate campaigner, Jens Wieting. “The world must get off the carbon highway to avoid climate chaos.”

“Decisive government action is needed to protect B.C. families from the impacts that further global warming will have on our food security, our jobs, and our communities,” said Wieting. “The B.C. government should immediately shift government support away from fossil fuel extraction and invest instead in carefully planned renewable energy projects and energy conservation programs – with the added benefit of creating many more sustainable jobs.”

On Saturday July 11, Sierra Club BC will be paddling the Peace alongside youth and elders from Treaty 8 First Nations, third-generation Peace Valley farm families, resource industry workers, local government reps, and British Columbians from all over the province.

We are not even halfway through the Week to End Enbridge (Jun. 13-21) and already people all over B.C. have attended Pull Together events raising thousands for First Nations fighting Enbridge in courts.